il  11  ilUUillHll  HI!  1111 1111111 L111111U1111LL1U 1111111111 


THE  RUBAIYAT 
/OMAR  KHAYYAM 


THE  RUBAIYAT 
of  OMAR  KHAYYAM 

AS  TRANSLATED  INTO  ENGLISH 
VERSE  BY  EDWARD  FITZGERALD 

WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 
BY  ADELAIDE  HANSCOM 
"POPULAR  EDITION" 


PUBLISHED  IN  NEW  YORK  BY 
DODGE    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


mm. 


m 


COPYRIGHT  1905  AND  1914  BY 
DODGE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


V}  I  1  11  11  1U1  11  1  i  U  1  I  1UI  II  1  1111111  1  UI1111  U  Ul  U  UJL  Ul  JLllllUJLI 


TITVAKE!  for  the  Sun  who 

\A/    scatter'd  into  flight 
The  Stars  before  him  from  the 

Field  of  Night, 
Drives  Night  along  with  them 

from  Heav'n,  and  strikes 
The  Sultan's  Turret  with  a  Shaft 

of  Light. 


BEFORE  the  phantom  of 
False  morning  died, 
Methought  a  Voice  within  the 

Tavern  cried, 
"When  all  the  Temple  is  pre- 
pared within, 
Why  nods  the  drowsy  Worship- 
per outside?" 

10      


HND,  as  the  Cock  crew, 
those  who  stood  before 
The  Tavern  shouted — "Open  then 

the  Door! 
You  know  how  little  while  we 

have  to  stay, 
And,  once  departed,  may  return 
no  more." 

11 


WW 


Luimuuiuiiui  1 1 1  imrunmumuiuimumnuuuin 


»^\OW  the  New  Year  reviving 
J    *  old  Desires, 
The  thoughtful  Soul  to  Solitude 
retires, 

Where  the  White  Hand  of  Moses 

on  the  Bough 
Puts   out,  and  Jesus   from  the 

ground  suspires. 

12 


© 


HHHHHI^BBHHHi^HHliB 


IRAM   indeed  is   gone  with 
all  his  Rose, 
And  Jamshyd's  Sev'n-ring'd  Cup 

where  no  one  knows; 
But  still  a  Ruby  kindles  in  the 
Vine, 

And  many  a  garden  by  the  water 
blows. 


13 


HND  David's  lips  are  lockt; 
but  in  divine 
High-piping  Pehlevi,  with  Wine! 

Wine!  Wine! 
Red  Wine!"— the  Nightingale 

cries  to  the  Rose 
That  sallow  cheek  of  hers  to 
incarnadine. 


QOME,  fill  the  Cup,  and  in 
the  fire  of  Spring 
Your  Winter-garment  of  Repen- 
tance fling: 
The  Bird  of  Time  has   but  a 

little  way 
To  flutter  —  and  the  Bird  is  on 
the  Wing. 

    15 

w 


'<$&& 


mm 


mm 


ILUUUllUUUUllilLfiinUiilllltUMUllUilUllULLUJULLU 


^1  WHETHER  at  Naishapur 
\^/    or  Babylon, 
Whether  the  Cup  with  sweet  or 

bitter  run, 
The  Wine  of  Life  keeps  oozing 

drop  by  drop, 
The  Leaves  of  Life  keep  falling 

one  by  one. 

16 


U 


am 


^"^f  ACH  Morn  a  thousand  Roses 

brings,  you  say; 
Yes,  but  where  leaves  the  Rose 

of  Yesterday? 
And  this  first  Summer  month  that 

brings  the  Rose 
Shall  take  Jamshyd  and  Kaikobad 

away. 

17 


Wm 


W  \ELL>  let  it:  take  them! 
\As     What  have  we  to  do 
With   Kaikobad  the   Great,  or 

Kaikhosru  ? 
Let  Zal  and  Rustum  bluster  as 

they  will, 
Or  Hatim  call  to  Supper — heed 
not  you. 

16   


WTH  me  along  the  strip 
of  Herbage  strewn 
That  just  divides  the  desert  from 

the  sown, 
Where  name  of  Slave  and  Sultan 

is  forgot — 
And  Peace  to  Mahmud  on  his 
golden  Throne ! 


HBOOK  of  Verses  under- 
neath the  Bough, 
A  Jug  of  Wine,  a  Loaf  of  Bread — 

and  Thou 
Beside   me   singing   in  the 

Wilderness— 
Oh,   Wilderness   were  Paradise 
enow ! 


20 


OME  for  the  Glories  of  this 
World;  and  some 
Sigh  for  the  Prophet's  Paradise 

to  come; 
Ah,  take  the  Cash,  and  let  the 

Credit  go, 
Nor  heed  the  rumble  of  a  distant 
Drum ! 


21 


*■  "%OOK  to  the  blowing  Rose 
JP  -4.  about  us — "Lo, 
Laughing,"   she  says,  "into  the 

world  I  blow, 
At  once  the  silken  tassel  of  my 

Purse 

Tear,  and  its  Treasure  on  the 
Garden  throw." 


22 


"V  H"ND  those  who  husbanded 
J_  ^  w  the  Golden  grain, 
And  those  who  flung  it  to  the 

winds  like  Rain, 
Alike  to  no  such  aureate  Earth 

are  turn'd 
As,  buried  once,  Men  want  dug 

up  again. 


23 


<  V^JHE  Worldly  Hope  men  set 

their  Hearts  upon 
Turns  Ashes — or  it  prospers; 

and  anon, 
Like   Snow   upon   the  Desert's 

dusty  Face, 
Lighting  a  little  hour  or  two — 

was  gone. 

24    


/■j^HINK,  in  this  batter'd 

Caravanserai 
Whose  Portals  are  alternate  Night 

and  Day, 
How   Sultan    after   Sultan  with 

his  Pomp 
Abode   his  destin'd   Hour,  and 

went  his  way. 

    25 

w 


/- J^/HEY  say  the  Lion  and  the 

Lizard  keep 
The  Courts  where  Jamshyd  gloried 

and  drank  deep: 
And  Bahram,  that  great  Hunter — 

the  Wild  Ass 
Stamps  o'er  his  Head,  but  cannot 

break  his  Sleep. 

26  

m 


mm 


I SOMETIMES  think  that 
never  blows  so  red 
The  Rose  as  where  some  buried 

Caesar  bled; 
That  every  Hyacinth  the  Garden 
wears 

Dropt  in  her  Lap  from  some  once 
lovely  Head. 

27 


ND    this  reviving  Herb 
whose  tender  Green 


Fledges  the  River-Lip  on  which 

we  lean — 
Ah,    lean  upon  it  lightly !  for 

who  knows 
From  what  once  lovely  Lip  it 

springs  unseen ! 


28 


HH,   my  Beloved,   fill  the 
Cup  that  clears 
To-day  of  past  Regret  and  future 
Fears: 

To-morrow  !  — Why,  To-morrow 

I  may  be 
Myself  with    Yesterday's  Sev'n 

thousand  Years. 


■  f OR  some  we  loved,  the 
<lM^y  loveliest  and  the  best 
That   from   his  Vintage  rolling 

Time  hath  prest, 
Mave  drunk  their  Cup  a  Round 

or  two  before, 
And  one  by  one  crept  silently 

to  rest. 


iCJ  (  QJC Hy/CJ/oVfOJ 


ND  we  that  now  make 
merry  in  the  Room 


They  left,  and  Summer  dresses 

in  new  bloom, 
Ourselves  must  we  beneath  the 

Couch  of  Earth 
Descend  —  ourselves  to  make  a 

Couch  — for  whom? 


31 


B"H,  make  the  most  of  what 
J_  ^  w  we  yet  may  spend, 
Before  we   too   into   the  Dust 

descend ; 
Dust  into  Dust,  and  under  Dust, 

to  lie, 

Sans  Wine,   sans  Song,  sans 
Singer,  and — sans  End! 


S8£«s>: 


m>  &  c  c  e-  C'CV 


LIKE  for  those  who  for 
To-day  prepare, 


And  those  that  after  some 

To-morrow  stare, 
A  Muezzin  from  the  Tower  or 

Darkness  cries, 
"Fools!  your  Reward  is  Neither 

Here  nor  There." 


33 


%\|  VHY,  all  the  Saints  and 

Sages  who  discuss'd, 
Of  the  two  World's  so  wisely — 

they  are  thrust 
Like  foolish  Prophets  forth;  their 

Words  to  Scorn 
Are  scatter'd,  and  their  Mouths 
are  stopt  with  Dust 

34 


YSELF  when  young  did 
eagerly  frequent 
Doctor  and  Saint,  and  heard  great 

argument 
About   it    and    about:  but 

evermore 
Came  out  by  the  same  door  where 
in  I  went 


35 


"  W  YITH  them  the  seed  of 

W/    Wisdom  did  I  sow, 
And  with  mine  own  hand  wrought 

to  make  it  grow; 
And  this  was  all  the  Harvest  that 
I  reap'd — 
I  came  like  Water,  and  like 
Wind  I  go." 

36 


rTO  this  Universe,  and  Why 
not  knowing 
Nor  Whence,  like  Water  willy-nilly 
flowing 

And  out  of  it,  as  Wind  along 

the  Waste, 
I  know  not   Whither,  willy-nilly 

blowing 


37 


V HAT,   without  asking, 
VA/    hither  hurried  Whence  ? 
And,  without,  asking,  Whither 

hurried  hence! 
Oh,   many  a  Cup   of  this  for- 
bidden Wine 
Must  drown  the  memory  of  that 
insolence ! 

38 


w 


wssrm 


UP  from  Earth's  Centre 
through  the  Seventh  Gate 
I  rose,  and  on  the  Throne  of 

Saturn  sat^ 
And  many  a  Knot  unravel'd  by 

the  Road; 
But  not  the  Master-knot  of 
Human  Fate. 


39 


/^HERE  was  the  Door  to 

which  I  found  no  Key; 
There  was  the  Veil  through  which 

I  might  not  see; 
Some  little  talk  awhile  of  Me  and 

Thee 

There  was — and  then  no  more  of 
Thee  and  Me. 


40 


ARTH  could  not  answer;  nor 
the  Seas  that  mourn 
In  flowing  Purple,  of  their  Lord 
forlorn; 

Nor  rolling  Heaven,  with  all  his 

Signs  reveal'd 
And  hidden  by  the  sleeve  of  Night 

and  Morn. 


41 


^J^HEN  of  the  Thee  in  Me 

who  works  behind 
The  Veil,  I  lifted  up  my  hands 
to  find 

A  Lamp  amid  the  Darkness,  and 
I  heard, 

As  from  Without  — "  The  Me 
within  Thee  blinds" 


luuuuuuinuuuiuuiuuuLuiuuiuiuuuuiinmTTi 


/■y^/HEN  to  the  Lip  of  this  poor 

earthen  Urn 
I  lean'd,  the  Secret  of  my  Life  to 
learn: 

And  Lip  to  Lip  it  murmur'd — 

"  While  you  live, 
Drink! — for,  once  dead,  you  never 

shall  return." 


I THINK  the  Vessel,  that  with 
fugitive 

Articulation  answer'd,   once  did 
live, 

And  drink;  and  Ah!  the  passive 

Lip  I  kiss'd, 
How  many  Kisses  might  it  take-  - 

and  give! 

44 


■  TOR  I  remember  stopping  by 
the  way 

To  watch  a  Potter  thumping  his 

wet  Clay: 
And  with  its  all-obliterated 

Tongue 
It  murmur'd — "Gently  Brother. 

gently,  pray!" 

    45 

w 


HND  has  not  such  a  Story 
from  of  Old 
Down  Man's  successive  genera- 
tions roll'd 
Of  such  a  cloud  of  saturated 
Earth 

Cast  by  the  Maker  into  Human 
mould  ? 

46 


&8SS 


ND  not  a  drop  that  from 
our  Cups  we  throw 


For  Earth  to  drink  of,  but  may 

steal  below 
To  quench  the  fire  of  Anguish  in 

some  Eye 
There  hidden  —  far  beneath,  and 

long  ago. 


47 


HS  then  the  Tulip  for  her 
morning  sup 
Of  Heav'nly  Vintage  from  the  soil 

looks  up, 
Do  you  devoutly  do  the  like,  till 
Heav'n 

To  Earth  invert  you  —  like  an 
empty  Cup. 


48 


mm  ii  ii  a  i  uinii  riui  ii  ii  i  nu  mi  ii  riiiuiuiiijiTm 


CERPLEXT  no  more  with 
Human  or  Divine, 
To-morrow's  tangle  to  the  winds 
resign, 

And  lose  your  fingers  in  the 

tresses  of 
The  Cypress-slender  Minister  of 

Wine. 


HND  if  the  Wine  you  drink, 
the  Lip  you  press, 
End  in  what  All  begins  and  ends 
in — Yes; 

Think  then  you  are  To-day  what 

Yesterday 
You  were — To-morrow  you  shall 

not  be  less. 


IS 


muuuuuiuuuiLimmumiuuniumiuuuiuuuig 


^^TO  when  the  Angel  of  the 

darker  Drink 
At  last  shall  find  you  by  the  river- 
brink, 

And,  offering  his  Cup,  invite  your 
Soul 

Forth  to  your  Lips  to  quaff — you 
shall  not  shrink. 


51 


U 


CjjiUiuuiuuLin  1 1  uumiuuHuumnimniumuiuri 


"  V^V  If HY,  if  the  Soul  can  fling 

the  Dust  aside, 
And  naked  on  the  Air  of  Heaven 
ride, 

Were't  not  a  Shame — were't  not  a 

Shame  for  him 
In  this  clay  carcass  crippled  to 

abide  ? 


n nauuiaiiiui  ii  ana  anuaaiaaauuaiaiamaii 


>/^^^IS  but  a  Tent  where  takes 

his  one  day's  rest 
A  Sultan  to  the  realm  of  Death 
addrest; 

The  Sultan  rises,  and  the  dark 
Ferrash 

Strikes,  and  prepares  it  for  another 
Guest 


~  Jj  fND  fear  not  lest  Existence 
J^.  JL%  closing  your 
Account,  and  mine,  should  know 

the  like  no  more 
The  Eternal  Saki  from  that  Bowl 

has  pour'd 
Millions  of  Bubbles  like  us,  and 

will  pour. 


p 


p  i  iiii  liuii  in  nil  liiiuiniiumiiuuuiimuuuiuuinri 


TO\HEN  You  and  I  behind 
the  Veil  are  past, 

Oh,  but  the  long,  long  while  the 
World  shall  last, 

Which  of  our  Coming  and  De- 
parture heeds 

As  the  Sea's  self  should  heed  a 
pebble-cast 


J  JT  MOMENT'S  Halt— a 
J_  ^  m    momentary  taste 

Of  Being  from  the  Well  amid  the 

Waste — 
And  Lo !  —  the  phantom  Caravan 

has  reach'd 
The  Nothing  it  set  out  from  —  Oh, 

make  haste! 

56      


<$<&<3 


\V  V  O  U  L  D  you  that  spangle 

of  Existence  spend 
About  the  secret — quick  about  it, 
Friend! 

A  Hair  perhaps  divides  the  False 

and  True; 
And  upon  what,  prithee,  does  life 

depend  ? 


"  Jf  Y  HAIR  perhaps  divides  the 
J^.  M%    False  and  True ; 
Yes;  and  a  single  Alif  were  the 
clue — 

Could  you  but  find  it  —  to  the 

Treasure-house, 
And  peradventure  to  The  Master 

too; 


»<£©: 


HOSE  secret  Presence, 
through  Creation's  veins 
Running  Quicksilver -like  eludes 

your  pains ; 
Taking  all  shapes  from  Mah  to 

Mahi;  and 
They  change  and  perish  all— but 
He  remains. 


59 


MOMENT  guess'd— then 
back  behind  the  Fold 
Immerst  of  Darkness  round  the 

Drama  roll'd 
Which,  for  the  Pastime  of 

Eternity, 
He  doth  Himself  contrive,  enact, 
behold. 


60 


1 1 1  niiiumuuiiii  i  iiiuummuiuuu.uuutuuuumH 


BUT  if  in  vain,  down  on  the 
stubborn  floor 
Of  Earth,  and  up  to  Heav'n's  un- 

opening  Door, 
You  gaze  To-day,  while  You  are 

You — how  then 
To-morrow,  You  when  shall  be 
You  no  more? 

6! 


TWTWTW'" 

n 

[ASTE  not  your  Hour,  nor 
in  the  vain  pursuit 
Of  This  and  That  endeavour  and 
dispute ; 

Better  be  jocund  with  the  fruitful 
Grape 

Than  sadden  after  none,  or  bitter, 
Fruit 


'  ■  W'OU  know,  my  Friends,  with 
y£-$    what  a  brave  Carouse 
I  made  a  Second  Marriage  in  my 
house; 

Divorced  old  barren  Reason  from 
my  Bed, 

And  took  the  Daughter  of  the  Vine 
to  Spouse. 

63 


T-TOR  "Is"  and  "Is-not"  though 
^A^'   with  Rule  and  Line, 
And  "Up-and-down"  by  Logic  I 
define, 

Of  all  that  one  should  care  to 

fathom,  I 
Was  never  deep  in  anything  but— 

Wine. 


'  V  f  H,  but  my  Computations, 

J^.  Ms  People  say 

Reduced  the  Year  to  better  reckon- 
ing?—Nay, 

'Twas  only  striking  from  the 
Calendar 

Unborn  To-morrow  and  dead 
Yesterday. 

    65 

w 


ND  lately,  by  the  Tavern 
Door  agape, 
Came  shining  through  the  Dusk 

an  Angel  Shape 
Bearing  a  Vessel  on  his  Shoulder; 
and 

He  bid  me  taste  of  it;  and  't  was — 
the  Grape ! 


66 


/•  V- 'HE  Grape  that  can  with 

Logic  absolute 
The  Two-and-Seventy  jarring  Sects 
confute: 

The  Sovereign  Alchemist  that  in 
a  trice 

Life's  leaden  metal  into  Gold 
transmute: 

67 


/-J^HE  mighty  Mahmud,  Allah- 

breathing  Lord, 
That  all  the  misbelieving  and  black 
Horde 

Of  Fears  and  Sorrows  that  infest 
the  Soul 

Scatters  before  him  with  his  whirl- 
wind Sword. 

    68 

w 


9Me>: 


XW\HY,  be  this  Juice  the 
\^/    growth  of  God,  who  dare 
Blaspheme  the  twisted  tendril  as 

a  Snare  ? 
A  Blessing,  we  should  use  it,  should 

we  not? 

And  if  a  Curse — why,  then  Who 
set  it  there  ? 


I MUST  abjure  the  Balm  of 
Life,  I  must, 
Scared  by  some  After- reckoning 

ta'en  on  trust, 
Or  lured  with  Hope  of  some  Diviner 
Drink, 

To  fill  the  Cup  —  when  crumbled 
into  Dust ! 


70 


OH,  threats  of  Hell  and  Hopes 
of  Paradise ! 
One  thing  at  least  is  certain — This 

Life  flies, 
One  thing  is  certain  and  the  rest 
is  Lies; 

The  Flower  that  once  has  blown 
for  ever  dies. 


iiLnuiuiiiiiuriiiiiiiiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiiinuiiiiHiiun 


£VTRANGE,  is  it  not?  that  of 
the  myriads  who 

Before  us  pass'd  the  door  of  Dark- 
ness through, 

Not  one  returns  to  tell  us  of  the 
Road, 

Which  to  discover  we  must  travel 
too. 

72 


/■  J^/HE  Revelations  of  Devout 
and  Learn'd 

Who  rose  before  us,  and  as  Proph- 
ets burn'd, 

Are  all  but  Stories,  which,  awoke 
from  Sleep 

They  told  their  comrades,  and  to 
Sleep  return'd. 


I SENT  my  Soul  through  the 
Invisible, 

Some  letter  of  that  After-life  to 
spell: 

And  by  and  by  my  Soul  return'd 
to  me, 

And  answer'd  "I  Myself  am  Hea'vn 
and  Hell:" 

74 

~W 


SSS8S 


*|^EAV'N  but  the  Vision  of 
J  \  fulfill'd  Desire, 
And  Hell  the  Shadow  from  a  Soul 
on  fire 

Cast  on  the  Darkness  into  which 

Ourselves, 
So  late  emerg'd  from,  shall  so  soon 

expire. 


75 


^kU\E  are  no  other  than  a 

\A/    moving  row 
Of  Magic  Shadow-shapes  that  come 
and  go 

Round  with  the  Sun-illumin'd 

Lantern  held 
In  Midnight  by  the  Master  of  the 

Show; 

76 


sssas 


BUT  helpless  Pieces  of  the 
Game  He  plays 
Upon  this  Chequer-board  of  Nights 

and  Days. 
Hither  and  thither  moves,  and 

checks,  and  slays, 
And  one  by  one  back  in  the  Closet 
lays. 

77 


mmm 

m 

/^^/HE  Ball  no  question  makes 

of  Ayes  and  Noes, 
But  Here  or  There  as  strikes  the 

Player  goes, 
And  He  that  toss'd  you  down  into 

the  Field, 
He  knows  about  it  all — he  knows 

— HE  knows ! 


W/TW/7W/ 


78 


88S8S 


'  V^/HE  Moving  Finger  writes; 

and,  having  writ, 
Moves  on:  nor  all  your  Piety  nor 
Wit 

Shall  lure  it  back  to  cancel  half 
a  Line, 

Nor  all  your  Tears  wash  out  a 
Word  of  it 

79    


HND  that  inverted  Bowl  they 
call  the  Sky, 
Whereunder  crawling  coop'd  we 

live  and  die, 
Lift  not  your  hands  to  It  for  help — 
for  it 

As  impotently  moves  as  you 
or  I. 


sssss? 


Earth's  first  Clay 
did  the  Last  Man 


knead, 

And  there  of  the  Last  Harvest 

sow'd  the  Seed : 
And  the  first  Morning  of  Creation 

wrote 

What  the  Last  Dawn  of  Reckon- 
ing shall  read. 

81 


e/cJc*,ocEo»_<a 


*W  rESTERDAY  T/m  Day's 
y£~$    Madness  did  prepare; 
To-morrows  Silence,  Triumph,  or 
Despair: 

Drink!  for  you  know  not  whence 

you  came,  nor  why : 
Drink !  for  you  know  not  why  you 

go,  nor  where. 

82 


!SKG> 


I TELL   you  this— When, 
started  from  the  Goal, 
Over  the  flaming  shoulders  of  the 
Foal 

Of  Heav'n  Parwin  and  Mushtari 

they  flung, 
In  my  predestin'd  Plot  of  Dust 

and  Soul 


a<KG>: 


/'^'HE  Vine  had  struck  a  fibre: 

which  about 
If  clings  my  Being — let  the  Dervish 
flout; 

Of  my  Base  metal  may  be  filed 
a  Key, 

That  shall  unlock  the  Door  he 
howls  without 


»G8S 


HND  this  I  know:  whether 
the  one  True  Light 
Kindle  to  Love,  or  Wrath-consume 

me  quite, 
One  flash  of  It  within  the  Tavern 
caught 

Better  than  in  the  Temple  lost 
outright. 


IS 


vssm 


WGJf>) 


HAT !  out  of  senseless 
Nothing  to  provoke 
A  conscious  Something  to  resent 
the  yoke 

Of  unpermitted  Pleasure,  under 
pain 

Of  Everlasting  Penalties,  if 
broke ! 

    86 

w 


HAT!  from  his  helpless 
Creature  be  repaid 
Pure  Gold  for  what  he  lent  him 

dross-allay'd — 
Sue  for  a  Debt  we  never  did 
contract, 

And  cannot  answer — Oh,  the  sorry 
trade ! 


minimum  mi  n  iimiimmmmmumiiuuimmin 


OH   Thou,  who  didst  with 
pitfall  ana  with  gin 
Beset  the  Road  I  was  to 

wander  in, 
Thou  wilt  not  with  Predestin'd 

Evil  round 
Enmesh,  and  then  impute  my  Fall 
to  Sin ! 


OH,  Thou,  who  Man  of  baser 
Earth  didst  make, 
And  ev'n  with  Paradise  devise  the 
Snake: 

For  all  the  Sin  wherewith  the  Face 
of  Man 

Is  blacken'd — Man's  forgiveness 
give — and  take! 

89 


ii 


U 


mmm 

tiofaf) 

"V  fS  under  cover  of  departing 
fjL  Day 

Slunk  hunger- stricken  Ramazan 
away, 

Once  more  within  the  Potter's 

house  alone 
I  stood,  surrounded  by  the  Shapes 

of  Clay. 


90 


HAPES  of  all  Sorts  and  Sizes, 
great  and  small, 
That  stood  along  the  floor  and  by 

*he  wall; 
And  some  loquacious  vessels  were; 

and  some 
Listen'd  perhaps,  but  never  talk'd 
at  all. 

91 


n  i  iiiiiiuutiiLLi'uuuiriuiiiuiiuuiuu'uiuiinniiiuri 


l^rAID  one  among  them — 

f<~J   "  Surely  not  in  vain 

My  substance  of  the  common  Earth 

was  ta'en 
And  to  this  Figure  moulded,  to  be 

broke, 

Or  trampled  back  to  shapeless 
Earth  again." 

92 


/■J^HEN  said  a  Second— "Ne'er 

a  peevish  Boy 
Would  break  the  Bowl  from  which 

he  drank  in  joy; 
And  He  that  with  his  hand  the 

Vessel  made 
Will  surely  not  in  after  Wrath 

destroy." 


HFTER  a  momentary  sflence 
spake 

Some  Vessel  of  a  more  ungainly 
make: 

41  They  sneer  at  me  for  leaning  all 
awry: 

What!  did  the  Hand  then  of  the 
Potter  shake?" 


T<n  VHEREAT  some  one  of 

^^^/  the  loquacious  Lot — 
I  think  a  Sufi  pipkin — waxing 
hot— 

"All  this  of  Pot  and  Potter— Tell 

me  then, 
Who  is  the  Potter,  pray,  and  who 

the  Pot?" 


!KRC> 


"TTWrVHY,"   said  another, 
"Some  there  are  who  tell 
Of  one  who  threatens  he  will  toss 
to  Hell 

The  luckless  Pots  he  marr'd  in 

making — Pish ! 
He's  a  Good  Fellow,  and  *t  will  all 

be  well." 


% 


~W1 

m 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

«  VELL,"  murmur'd  one, 

"Let  whoso  make  or  buy, 
My  Clay  with  long  Oblivion  is 

gone  dry: 
But  fill  me  with  the  old  familiar 

Juice, 

Methinks  I  might  recover  by 
and  by." 


97 


^^TO  while  the  Vessels  one  by 

fZZr  one  were  speaking, 

The  little  Moon  look'd  in  that  all 

were  seeking : 
And  then  they  jogg'd  each  other, 

"Brother!  Brother! 
Now  for  the  Porter's  shoulder-knot 

a-creaking ! " 

  98 

Wl 


'  J  B"H,  with  the  Grape  my  fad- 
J_  ^  w  ing  Life  provide, 
And  wash  the  Body  whence  the 

Life  has  died, 
And  lay  me,  shrouded  in  the  living 

Leaf, 

By  some  not  unfrequented  Garden- 
side. 


LIU  U.U  ii.iiiii.li.ll  1 1  111  1111  111  111  11  lllllllljni  11111 '1TTTTT7TI 


15 


HAT  ev'n  my  buried  Ashes 
such  a  snare 
Of  Vintage  shall  fling  up  into 
the  Air 

As  not  a  True -believer  pass- 
ing by 

But  shall  be  overtaken  un- 
aware. 

    100 

w 


INDEED  the  Idols  I  have  loved 
so  long 

Have  done  my  credit  in  this  World 

much  wrong : 
Have  drown'd  my  Glory  in  a 

shallow  Cup, 
And  sold  my  Reputation  for  a 

Song. 


r DEED,  indeed,  Repentance 
oft  before 
I  swore — but  was  I  sober  when  I 
swore  ? 

And  then  and  then  came  Spring, 

and  Rose-in-hand 
My  thread-bare  Penitence  apieces 

tore. 


102 


'  J  y  N  D  much  as  Wine  has 

play'd  the  Infidel, 
And  robb'd  me  of  my  Robe  of 

Honour — Well, 
I  wonder  often  what  the  Vintners 
buy 

One  half  so  precious  as  the  stuff 
they  sell. 

103 


'  ■  f"KT,  Ah,  that  Spring  should 
J&~$    vanish  with  the  Rose ! 

That  Youth's  sweet-scented  manu- 
script should  close ! 

The  Nightingale  that  in  the 
branches  sang, 

Ah  whence,  and  whither  flown 
again,  who  knows ! 

104 


kOULD  but  the  Desert  of 
the  Fountain  yield 
One  glimpse — if  dimly,  yet  indeed, 
reveal'd, 

To  which  the  fainting  Traveller 

might  spring, 
As  springs  the  trampled  herbage 

of  the  field ! 

105 


U 


OULD  but  some  winged 
Angel  ere  too  late 
Arrest  the  yet  unfolded  Roll  of 
Fate, 

And  make  the  stern  Recorder 
otherwise 

Enregister,  or  quite  oblite- 
rate ! 


106 


J  f  H  Love!  could  you  and  I 
J_  ^  w  with  Him  conspire 
To  grasp  this  sorry  Scheme  of 

Things  entire, 
Would  not  we  shatter  it  to  bits — 

and  then 
Re-mould  it  nearer  to  the  Heart's 

desire! 


•'ON  rising  Moon  that  looks 
for  us  again — 
How  oft  hereafter  will  she  wax 

and  wane; 
How  oft  hereafter  rising  look 
for  us 

Through  this  same  Garden — and 
for  one  in  vain ! 


«>  e) «> e <)t)t)^c)^c)c)^c)Bc)c)?)S)  <£>       c>  O  0)  O 


'  J  g"ND  when  like  her,  oh  Saki, 
J_  ^  m  you  shall  pass 
Among  the  Guests  Star-scatter'd 

on  the  Grass, 
And  in  your  joyous  errand  reach 

the  spot 

Where  I  made  One — turn  down 
an  empty  Glass ! 

109 


e 

><£C  sal 


